Windows Phone 8.1 Start Backgrounds


Recommended Posts

I'm not sure if this is the right place but I was thinking we could have a thread where people could post backgrounds that work well for the Start Background.  Currently I'm using the undersea picture which looks awesome.  I've tried other pictures but for me the monochromatic ones seem to be easier to use for me.  i also match the highlight text to the main color of the picture.

 

So if you have some cool backgrounds show it here!

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1209593-windows-phone-81-start-backgrounds/
Share on other sites

I've tried some, but for now I'm back to black and steel...

What's the keys for a screenshot again though.

I have to many tiles with opaque background anyway, I wish the opaque tiles looked like they do while you're re-arranging.

I've tried some, but for now I'm back to black and steel...

What's the keys for a screenshot again though.

I have to many tiles with opaque background anyway, I wish the opaque tiles looked like they do while you're re-arranging.

Yes!!  I thought the same thing!!  Also, I wonder if developers will want to make theme colored icons now instead of their own color...

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/start-screen-customizer/087fa43e-7951-4da4-9403-6a26ab013ff4

 

http://1drv.ms/1f720Pp

http://1drv.ms/1lhjASc

http://www.facets.la/

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=610731e7b3fd5f6d&id=610731E7B3FD5F6D%216800&ithint=folder&authkey=!ALqPfq6bLjQfISA

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=903f79187e0690a7&id=903F79187E0690A7%21404&ithint=folder,.jpg&authkey=!AAsGTdC-h88S_ws

http://1drv.ms/1eDIbvT

http://1drv.ms/1kRASsl

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62442-ta8tovh.jpg

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62443-2zoedpi.jpg

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62444-jrzpjwp.jpg

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62445-gbekk4r.jpg

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62481-the_complex_by_nuukeer-d5uycvj.jpg

http://imgur.com/a/Rxjxx#0burWMU

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62500-gradient-phone-07.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62499-gradient-phone-06.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62498-gradient-phone-05.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62497-gradient-phone-04.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62496-gradient-phone-03.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62495-gradient-phone-02.png

http://forums.wpcentral.com/attachments/windows-phone-8-1/62494-gradient-phone-01.png

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=610731e7b3fd5f6d&id=610731E7B3FD5F6D%21941&v=3&ithint=photo,.jpg&authkey=!AOWIm85H5TNrI-Y

 

More later...

How about posting pictures we can actually see, not linked and requiring logging on...

 

I don't know if your comment was directed at me (probably was) and just trying to be plain rude, but I just posted start screen backgrounds that I found, and I took time to do so. Unlike everyone else, who hasn't posted anything or posted Start Screen screenshots (which it clearly says backgrounds in the title). I'm sorry if I didn't post by *your* rules, but I didn't know we had to find images that were not hosted on onedrive, I don't own those onedrive accounts, and some were posted on WPcentral. I don't see anyone there complaining, just happily posting their backgrounds, likewise no one else besides you is complaining here.

 

If I totally took your post the wrong way, sorry.

 

Ones that I created:

http://1drv.ms/1gDFpKZ

This post over at WPCentral should be of interest to you guys.

 

http://www.wpcentral.com/how-get-beautiful-start-backgrounds-windows-phone-81

 

Go a bit more down to see new apps that allow you to either add/get new backgrounds or tweak/make them yourself.

This post over at WPCentral should be of interest to you guys.

 

http://www.wpcentral.com/how-get-beautiful-start-backgrounds-windows-phone-81

 

Go a bit more down to see new apps that allow you to either add/get new backgrounds or tweak/make them yourself.

I was going to post that but I was mobile all day.  Thanks for doing it!

went back yesterday to the good old accent colors and two column of tiles, backgrounds doesn't look right for me and 3 column of tiles looks too small on 4 + 4.3 inch screens i should start thinking of upgrading to 930 or 1520...

There is also an app in the store now that will turn your tiles transparent if they aren't.  So for example Music, Videos and Games tiles don't show your background image but with this app it does that.  I think those will natively support it with future updates to them but for now it's an option.

There is also an app in the store now that will turn your tiles transparent if they aren't.  So for example Music, Videos and Games tiles don't show your background image but with this app it does that.  I think those will natively support it with future updates to them but for now it's an option.

Whats it called?

Whats it called?

 

I found it.   Here's the link

 

http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=6191d0ba-0c69-43ab-8520-669a4fe0f89d

 

App is called Tilesparency.

  • Like 2

I found it.   Here's the link

 

http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=6191d0ba-0c69-43ab-8520-669a4fe0f89d

 

App is called Tilesparency.

Are you sure it lets you turn opaque tiles transparent? All I can get it to do is add a blank transparent tile to my start screen.

Are you sure it lets you turn opaque tiles transparent? All I can get it to do is add a blank transparent tile to my start screen.

 

You're right, I had the wrong idea about this.

The app that actually creates transparent tiles for some live tiles is called Transparency Tiles. You can download it here: http://windowsphone.com/s?appId=f4125e62-a88b-4f7d-b8f6-3cd60069f105

 

It will only allow for tiles they have pre-programmed, but they have the main ones.

I found it.   Here's the link

 

http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=6191d0ba-0c69-43ab-8520-669a4fe0f89d

 

App is called Tilesparency.

 

Holy smokin' Ads on that thing! And it's buggy and crashes a lot too. Found this one: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/tilegap/0c4ccb3f-f405-47bd-8d9e-1e59667b5a47. No ads and works like a charm. Allowed me to get this Nexus look on my Lumia!

 

a1WhgVV.jpg

Holy smokin' Ads on that thing! And it's buggy and crashes a lot too. Found this one: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/tilegap/0c4ccb3f-f405-47bd-8d9e-1e59667b5a47. No ads and works like a charm. Allowed me to get this Nexus look on my Lumia!

 

a1WhgVV.jpg

 

Talk about minimalist.     I also had settings pinned to my screen in 8.0 but now there's the all settings button in the action center so I unpinned the tile.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I'm still on Windows 10 22H2 because I didn't want to deal with all the issues in Windows 11, so I waited almost a week before installing the latest Patch Tuesday update (KB5094127), I went ahead and did it, and it was a huge mistake—ever since then, my File Explorer has seen a performance drop of about 30% when transferring large files... Once again, Microsoft has outdone itself! This update cannot be uninstalled, either through the Control Panel (via Settings) or by accessing Advanced Startup Options. The only possible alternative would be to use system restore points, but I’d have to reinstall all app and driver updates (and there’s no guarantee it would work). Or there’s the “nuclear option” of a in-place repair without losing files or apps, but even then, all my customizations would be lost! Microsoft just can’t help but mess everything up! Way to go, Microsoft! But I still don’t want your c****y Windows 11!
    • Microsoft: Windows 11 could finally solve a major issue across AMD, Nvidia, and Intel GPUs by Sayan Sen While Microsoft has been trying to improve it, Windows 11 is definitely not flawless, as even today some issues are taking a year to publicly acknowledge. However, one area of trouble that may finally see much better results soon is graphics driver crashes. Work on graphics driver timeouts, also called Timeout and Detection Recovery (TDR), is not new as the latest WDDM 3.2 also has specific improvements regarding it. Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 is supported on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. However, with the upcoming version 26H2, TDR crash diagnosis could go to the next level as Microsoft is introducing a new DirectX 12 API feature called "DirectX Dump Files". Similar to how system memory dump files work when a system crashes or freezes or encounters any such major issue, DirectX Dump Files (DDF) will essentially record a snapshot of the GPU execution right at the moment a graphics-related crash or hang or freeze occurs, so that developers can better understand and diagnoze these TDR and timeout detection errors. The dump will be available as a .dxdmp file for analysis and it will be a comprehensive dump file generated with detailed insights about the hardware, drivers, Windows, as well as the affected application. This should be another welcome change in this department. Earlier at GDC 2026, when the technology was first debuted, Microsoft had shared more details regarding it. The company had explained how DDF is designed to gather data from every layer of the graphics stack into a single file, eliminating the need for developers to manually correlate logs from multiple tools. As mentioned above, the dump can contain a lot of useful details like GPU hardware state information such as register values, shader program counters, page fault virtual addresses, shader memory data, and command buffers. Alongside that, it also captures DirectX runtime and kernel information, including D3D objects, pipeline state objects, device error data, adapter details, and CPU call stacks. Microsoft says the feature has been built around two primary use cases: retail device removals and local device removals. The former allows developers to collect crash information from end users' systems in the field, while the latter helps QA teams and developers investigate issues on test machines. Developers will also be able to include up to 2 MB of custom application data through new D3D12 APIs, providing additional context for troubleshooting. In addition, Microsoft is introducing three dump collection modes ranging from zero-overhead capture, which has no runtime performance impact on supported hardware, to higher-detail modes that collect more vendor-specific debugging data. On compatible Tier 2 hardware, zero-overhead dumps will be enabled by default, meaning developers may begin receiving useful crash diagnostics without making any code changes. The table below explains the three tiers: Tier Description NO_OVERHEAD Enables crash capture with no runtime cost and is suitable for broad deployment MEDIUM_OVERHEAD Provides a balance, capturing additional diagnostic data with moderate impact HIGH_OVERHEAD Collects the most detailed GPU and driver state available, enabling deeper investigation at the cost of higher runtime overhead In terms of availability, the company expects broader release to be around the fall of 2026, which should be right around the time when Windows 11 version 26H2 lands. Right now, DirectX Dump Files are available as a preview and currently, only AMD has the compatible AgilitySDK Developer Preview driver version 26.10.07.02. You can find the official announcement post here on Microsoft's website.
    • And with SO much better perf than the laggy mess that is Files.
    • BrowserOS 0.46.0 by Razvan Serea BrowserOS is a free, open-source Chromium-based browser that runs AI agents natively, offering a smarter, more productive browsing experience. It supports Chrome extensions and integrates AI agents to automate tasks, fill forms, and streamline workflows. Your data stays on your computer: you can use your own API keys or run local models via Ollama, making it a privacy-first alternative to tools like Perplexity, Comet, or Dia. With built-in productivity tools and app integrations, BrowserOS boosts efficiency while keeping control firmly in your hands. Being Chromium-based, BrowserOS lets you effortlessly import your bookmarks, passwords, and Chrome extensions in just a few clicks. BrowserOS works with OpenAI GPT models, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local AI models via Ollama or LMStudio. You can use your own API keys and effortlessly switch between providers. BrowserOS Agent Your AI productivity assistant that organizes and manages your browsing effortlessly Quickly list, group, or close tabs Save and resume browsing sessions Search your history and organize bookmarks Switch instantly to the tab you need BrowserOS Navigator – Automate web tasks with ease Navigate websites and search automatically Interact with pages without manual effort Handle repetitive tasks in seconds What makes BrowserOS special Feels like home - same familiar interface as Google Chrome, works with all your extensions AI agents that run on YOUR browser, not in the cloud Privacy first - bring your own keys or use local models with Ollama. Your browsing history stays on your computer Open source and community driven - see exactly what's happening under the hood MCP store to one-click install popular MCPs and use them directly in the browser bar (coming soon) Built-in AI ad blocker that works across more scenarios! BrowserOS 0.46.0 changelog: Run Claude Code & Codex right in your browser — We've extended the agent harness to bring full coding agents into BrowserOS. Claude Code and Codex now come bundled and plug straight into the assistant, so you can drive your browser with the agent — and the subscription — you already use. A brand new experience — A redesigned new tab, a calmer composer, and a rebuilt command center for switching between agents. The whole assistant is cleaner, faster to reach, and easier to live in. New MCP tools — We rebuilt the browser tool surface from the ground up — a tighter, more reliable set of tools for agents to drive the browser. Plus one-click install of BrowserOS as an MCP server into the agents you already run, with automatic URL sync. Chromium 148 — Updated to the latest Chromium base with all recent upstream fixes and security patches. Streamlined — We've pulled back a few features that weren't getting much use — Skills, Soul, and Memory — so we can focus and ship better versions of them soon. Download: BrowserOS 0.46.0 | 181.0 MB (Open Source) Download: BrowserOS for macOS | 485.0 MB Links: BrowserOS Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      591
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      187
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      77
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      75
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      67
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!